In conventional tampon printing machines, the lifting of the print head along with the tampon is controlled either by means of a cam guide onto which a guide pin is pressed via spring loading, or by means of a curved groove with associated guide pin guided therein. In both cases, manufacture of the cam guide is time consuming and therefore expensive and substantial frictional losses result so that a relatively powerful drive must be used. In addition, the cam guides wear quickly due to the large amount of friction so that a relatively large amount of play results. It is therefore necessary to frequently replace the cam guide plates or the like.